An article mentioning “NATO’s Eastern Front” in a headline got Germany’s Die Welt newspaper in hot water, with furious readers accusing it of warmongering. The term Eastern Front is associated with the 1941 Nazi invasion of USSR.

Entitled ‘The Bundeswehr lacks winter clothing for NATO’s Eastern Front’, the article was first published by the German dpa news agency and then reprinted by other German media outlets, including Die Welt, which eventually bore the brunt of the headline wording. The piece tells of shortages of winter uniforms and basic equipment required by Germany’s military to lead the bloc’s rapid deployment force known as the Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (VJTF).

In the past, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) justified its militarization of large swaths of Eastern Europe by pointing to the omnipresent threat of terrorism, or some 'rogue' foreign state, inherently understood to be Iran.

Today the mask has slipped and it is no longer denied that NATO's primary target is Russia.

Swedish broadcast journalist Anna-Klara Bankel was called a “damn whore” and told not to film in the notorious Stockholm no-go suburb of Rinkeby by locals whilst recording video footage for a documentary.

Anna-Klara Bankel, who works for the Swedish public broadcaster SVT, was called a “damn whore” while attempting to interview locals on the effectiveness of recently introduced CCTV cameras in the area to combat drug dealing and other crimes.

While trying to talk to locals in the main square of Rinkeby, a man shouted: “Go away! You cannot film here. Damn it!”

For many years, the mainstream media has denied the existence of No Go Zones across various European countries. This is despite heavily migrant populated neighbourhoods turning into areas of high crime and danger for police and public alike.

This week, German Chancellor Angela Merkel shocked the world by admitting that even Germany, which has taken in well over a million migrants since the 2015 migrant crisis, has no-go zones.

Merkel, who was described as the “leader of the free world” by left-wing publication the Independent after the election of U.S. President Donald Trump, is only the latest European leader to recognize the problems within migrant enclaves.

"I think it remains to be seen whether the Europeans are going to kowtow to Washington or not," said Porter. "It certainly could happen and the reason of course is that the United States is going to use every bit of power that is available to it to muscle the EU signatories of the JCPOA, that being Britain, France and Germany, to knuckle under to the US demand that they come up with something."

"That power, of course, is that if the Europeans don't go along with this and they do business with Iran, as it's required by the JCPOA, then the United States will cut off their financial access to US national institutions. That is a very sizable leverage that the US has."

European Parliament President Antonio Tajani, the man picked by Silvio Berlusconi as his choice to be Italy's next prime minister, is an affable networker and long-time ally of the billionaire media tycoon.

"He is someone who knows all of Europe," Berlusconi said as he announced his one-time protege as his favoured nominee if the rightwing coalition he heads wins a majority in Sunday's general election.

Tajani, who helped Berlusconi enter politics in the early 1990s and then served as his spokesman, is seen as someone whose loyalty Berlusconi can count on.

The Mosque of Segrate located on the outskirts of Milan has called on Muslims to vote for the centre-left coalition and parties favourable to granting birthplace citizenship.

The Segrate mosque, also known as Masjid al-Rahmàn or Mosque of the Merciful, released a bulletin to followers urging them to vote for parties which support granting citizenship to anyone born within the borders of Italy, known as Jus Soli, Italian newspaper Il Giornale reports.

The mosque told believers “they have a fundamental interest in going to the polls and in the secrecy of the voting booth, where nobody, except Allah, shines the splendour of his light, sees them express carefully on the valid ballot, putting the X on the symbol of parties favourable to Jus Soli.”

Webmaster's Commentary:

This illustrates the dangers of open borders. If enough refugees (or illegal immigrants) flood into a country, they can literally vote to take the country away from the population who built it.

U.S. broadcaster CNN published an article this week by historian Andrea Mammone claiming that the return of conservative former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi to Italian politics, along with the popularity of anti-mass migration parties, is heralding a return to fascism.

According to Mammone, the policies and rhetoric of Mr Berlsuconi during the Italian national election campaign have “led to the legitimization of the far right” and cites the rise of the far-right Casapound movement and the far-right Forza Nuova.

Recent polls suggest that much of the rhetoric used by Silvio Berlusconi, such as promising to deport 600,000 illegal migrants, has resonated with voters as his party along with the populist La Lega, are favourites to win Sunday’s vote.

DUTCH prime minister Mark Rutte has launched an extraordinary tirade against Brussels bureaucrats and demanded more control over the future direction of Europe for European leaders, rather than unelected officials.

Eritrean failed asylum seeker turned murderer Abraham Ukbagabir claim in an interview that he wants to “forget” his killing of a 55-year-old woman and her 28-year-old son in an Ikea in 2015 and said, “shit happens”.

The 37-year-old, who was convicted of murdering a woman and her son in an Ikea in the city of Västerås, opened up about his past in Eritrea and brushed off the murder in a new interview with Swedish newspaper Expressen.

Putin has become an obstacle to Washington’s imperial ambitions which is why he has been elevated to Public Enemy Number 1. It has nothing to do with the fictitious meddling in the 2016 elections or the nonsensical “rolling back democracy” in Russia. It’s all about power.

American liberals would be surprised to know that Putin actually supports many of the same social issues that they support.

Putin is not the ghoulish caricature the media makes him out to be nor does he hate America, that’s just more propaganda from the corporate echo-chamber. The truth is Putin has been good for Russia, good for regional stability, and good for global security.

The European Union adopted a migration quota plan back in 2015, following massive migrant inflows into the region. However, a number of countries, including the so-called the Visegrad Group, with the Czech Republic being one member of the group, have clashed with the European Commission on the issue of quotas.

"By no means, will we accept any migrants within any quotas. Not a single one. We are against, on principle, of being dictated to on who has the right to live and work in our country. Compulsory quotas are ineffective and only divide Europe," Prime Minister Andrej Babiš said, while delivering a speech in the parliament.

In 2014, the data collection at the base was central to a behind-closed-doors dispute between the Norwegian Intelligence Service and the oversight committee that monitors the conduct of the country’s spy agencies, according to sources with knowledge of the incident. The intelligence service argued that the surveillance was lawful and necessary. But the committee disagreed and claimed that the storing and searching of Norwegians’ communication records was legally dubious. The disagreement remains unresolved; meanwhile, the surveillance appears to have continued unabated.

There is one issue on which Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and its main opposition, the Republican People's Party (CHP), are in complete agreement: The conviction that the Greek islands are occupied Turkish territory and must be reconquered.

So strong is this determination that the leaders of both parties have openly threatened to invade the Aegean.

The only conflict on this issue between the two parties is in competing to prove which is more powerful and patriotic, and which possesses the courage to carry out the threat against Greece. While the CHP is accusing President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an's AKP party of enabling Greece to occupy Turkish lands, the AKP is attacking the CHP, Turkey's founding party, for allowing Greece to take the islands through the 1924 Treaty of Lausanne, the 1932 Turkish-Italian Agreements, and the 1947 Paris Treaty, which recognized the islands of the Aegean as Greek territory.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has accused the United States of hurdling international nuclear disarmament efforts by training European armies to use tactical nuclear weapons against Russia.

Addressing the United Nations Conference on Disarmament on Wednesday, Lavrov said the US military had deployed strategic and non-strategic weapons across Europe and was using them in joint military exercises with other European countries, including the NATO military alliance’s non-nuclear members.

"As we all know, these nuclear missions violate the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), and non-nuclear states plan and take part in the US exercises and learn how to use the nuclear weapons," he said.

Roberto Lavarini, the right-wing Brothers of Italy party's candidate for the upcoming general elections, told Sputnik that in the event his party is elected to the parliament, it would continue to work on securing a Eurasian alliance with Russia instead of focusing on EU cooperation.

The countries of the Western Balkans should be oriented towards 2025 as the date when they can join the European Union, provided that they work to meet the membership criteria, said EC head Jean-Claude Juncker.

"To the extent that the candidate country by that time, or later or earlier, will meet all the criteria for membership, we will act in such a way that its efforts are recognized by the European Union," he said at a press conference.

Prime Minister of Albania Edi Rama noted that as assessment of judges and prosecutors, which is the first step for judicial reform in the country, has become a key measure for the start of negotiations.

The Netherlands’ permissive drugs policy has been hailed worldwide, but immigrant-dominated crime gangs are taking advantage to create a “parallel mafia society.” Yet they are not the only ones who created this crisis.
A report by the Dutch police union based on interviews with 400 detectives, released last week, read less like a blueprint for tackling crime, but rather a concession of defeat.

A sample of quotes from interviewees: “In 25 years, I’ve seen small dealers grow to large businessmen with respected investors [and] political connections.” “Five years ago a contract killer would cost €50,000 [US$61,000] now one can be found for €5,000. It’s supply and demand.” “The Netherlands has become a narco state in the past three decades. We do not see what remains invisible, but underground it has been growing.”

The Netherlands’ permissive drugs policy has been hailed worldwide, but immigrant-dominated crime gangs are taking advantage to create a “parallel mafia society.” Yet they are not the only ones who created this crisis.
A report by the Dutch police union based on interviews with 400 detectives, released last week, read less like a blueprint for tackling crime, but rather a concession of defeat.

A sample of quotes from interviewees: “In 25 years, I’ve seen small dealers grow to large businessmen with respected investors [and] political connections.” “Five years ago a contract killer would cost €50,000 [US$61,000] now one can be found for €5,000. It’s supply and demand.” “The Netherlands has become a narco state in the past three decades. We do not see what remains invisible, but underground it has been growing.”

Webmaster's Commentary:

This is a shame, happening in what used to be one of the gems of Europe.

The Dutch people have to take the initiative, and move beyond the status quo right now in order to get these problems under control.

PROTESTERS threw glass bottles and knocked over police officers yesterday as violence broke out in Italy during a terrifying attempt to silence a leading anti-EU political figure, ahead of the Italian elections next week.

Introducing his movie review, British political activist Mark Collett writes, in part: "The Black Panther has been given glowing reviews by almost every mainstream critic - but why? Well it certainly isn't for the story or the bizarre and poorly thought out setting. The reason this film has been held up as a masterpiece is because it pushes narratives of African superiority and white guilt which both play right into the anti-white narrative that is embraced by the liberal establishment."

The leader of the right-wing League said he will fight Brussels to make sure “Italians come first” should he become Italy’s next Prime Minister in the March 4 Italian general election.

The party leader, dubbed the “Italian Farage” could become one of the most dangerous politicians within the Union, as he has threatened the bloc to withdraw Italy’s funds and even trigger an “Italexit” if his demands for Italy aren't greeted.

Focusing his electoral campaign on fighting illegal immigration and protecting Italy from the EU’s “unfair” financial laws, he has often criticised both Eurocrats’ calls for greater integration and the euro, which he renamed “a German currency”.

He has often claimed that the regulations imposed by the European Union are damaging Italian industries and the Italian economy

Minutes from a policy meeting in January revealed the situation “required monitoring”, as it tries to ease an anti-euro uprising in Italy ahead of its crucial election next month.

The euro has been consistently rising against the dollar since Donald Trump became President, squeezing stock exchanges in Europe while Wall Street soars.

In its minutes, the ECB cited a joint pledge at the International Monetary Fund’s October meeting that all parties “will refrain from competitive devaluations, and will not target our exchange rates for competitive purposes”.

The minute could be seen as an accuse to US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who hinted at the possibility of the end of the “strong dollar” policy in Davos last month.

THE Belgian prime minister hosted a fancy dinner for his European colleagues last night ahead of today’s EU Summit - but while Brussels heavyweights Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macron got an invite - others were snubbed.

In a wide-ranging and blistering attack, the former Labour leader took aim at the PM and other politicians who he accused of being in “cake and eat it” mode over the nature of the relationship between Britan and the EU once the UK leaves the bloc next year.

Writing on the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change website, Mr Blair said: “Each speech in this bizarre parade of Government Ministers designed to show unity only further exposes the division.

“They all try to pull the sword out of the stone, huffing and puffing away, and all fail.

The sad reality is that these elections will change nothing and they are not only boring (no real, credible, opposition) but also useless. A grand waste of time and money. And yet, they are also necessary.

They are necessary because in the “Empire of Illusions”, to borrow Chris Hedges’ excellent expression, everybody simply has to play by the AngloZionist rules: elections are an absolute “must” even if they are self-evidently farcical.

Two people have been shot dead outside a branch of the UBS bank in the otherwise boring and extremely quiet Swiss financial capital of Zurich, the local police said according to BBC. Images distributed by the Swiss press showed two bodies lying motionless, close together on a pavement, with eyewitnesses reporting four or five shots being fired.

The media images showed what appeared to be a pistol close to the hand of one of the bodies on the pavement.

European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker warned Thursday that financial markets could face turbulence after Italian elections next month, saying Brussels was prepared for a worst-case scenario.

Italians vote on March 4th amid uncertainty, with polls indicating a coalition between the centre-right opposition Forza Italia party and far-right, anti-immigrant groups could end up in government.

Juncker said it would be a "very important week in the European Union" because the result of a membership ballot of Germany's Social Democrats on whether to join a coalition led by Chancellor Angela Merkel's is due on the same day."

The Hungarian prime minister has accused George Soros of using his funds to buy influence in Brussels and the UN. His accusation comes after the so-called Stop Soros bill was submitted to the Hungarian Parliament. The proposed bill would enable banning non-government organizations that encourage migration and pose a risk to national security.

Sputnik discussed the bill with Levente Bánk Boros, a political analyst and CEO of Medianezo Ltd.

Germany's cooperation with Russia in the defense and industrial sphere is likely to develop - Germany and other European countries understand that it is not possible to organize their projects within the framework of NATO, since the Alliance pursues exclusively US interests. This opinion was expressed by the analyst Alexander Asafov. ...

And this: Russia is strengthening cooperation with Germany and other European countries in the sphere of the military-industrial complex (MIC), said the head of the parliamentary defense committee, Vladimir Shamanov.

EU CHIEFS have been accused of nepotism after a Brexit-hating Eurocrat dubbed the 'Brussels monster' was handed a plum new role at the European Commission after being nominated by his pal Jean-Claude Juncker.

GERMAN influence is rising within the EU after Martin Selmayr was appointed to the post of secretary-general of the European Commission, meaning the country now holds the position in three of the bloc’s most powerful institutions.

The Ruderman Family Foundation, an American Jewish philanthropic organization, recently initiated a campaign calling for the US to dissolve its ties with Poland over the country’s controversial new law that makes it illegal to accuse the Polish nation of complicity in Nazi crimes during World War II.

The campaign includes a petition for the US to suspend its ties to Poland on the NeverDeny.org website. The site also reportedly included a video message showing men, women and children saying "Polish Holocaust," according to Times of Israel. Other footage showed people asking about time spent in a "Polish prison." However, the footage is currently unavailable on the website or YouTube.

The contentious law, recently signed by President Andrzej Duda this month, is due to take effect February 28. However, the law is to be reviewed by Poland's constitutional court since it has generated much criticism.

NATO does not see Russia as a threat to any of its members, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said in an interview published by the Foreign Policy magazine on Tuesday and reported by TASS.

"We don’t see any threat [from Russia] against any NATO ally and therefore, I’m always careful speculating too much about hypothetical situations," he said when asked what the alliance would do "if Russia did in the Baltics what it did in Ukraine."

"What I can say is that anything like what happened in Crimea and Ukraine would, of course, trigger a response from the whole alliance, because NATO is there to defend and protect all allies against any threat," he went onto say.

Matteo Salvini has accused Angela Merkel of following only the German agenda and ignoring the fact that her strategy is no good for other EU states, including Italy.

"Angela Merkel has been criticized abroad, since she puts the interests of German citizens and the German economy above the interests of the whole [European] Union. This strategy, that is probably good for Germany, has caused damage to Italy," Matteo Salvini, the leader of the right-wing Italian party Lega Nord, told DPA.

In his opinion, Italy had to agree with EU-related decisions without any chance of influencing them, which is completely wrong, the politician argued.

"We often have an impression that we are only being consulted about accomplished facts and have no chance to influence the decisions that set the direction for Europe," Salvini stated.

Armed police, snipers and a helicopter have been deployed in a large scale operation to block off a building in the Brussels commune of Fora where one or more gunmen are allegedly inside, according to local media. Authorities report that at least two men are holed up in the apartment.

Are the Intel agencies and the FBI looking for a way to end this political cage-match before a second Special Counsel is appointed and he starts digging up embarrassing information about the involvement of other agencies (and perhaps, the White House) in the Russiagate fiasco?

All of these questions need to be answered in order to clear the air, hold the guilty parties accountable and restore confidence in the government.

The US State Department has issued a fresh ultimatum on the Iran nuclear deal to Washington’s ostensible major allies in Europe, demanding that Germany, Britain and France commit themselves to altering the agreement along the lines demanded by President Donald Trump or face its unilateral abrogation by the US.

A secret State Department cable obtained by Reuters presents what are essentially the same demands made by Trump last January. At that time, he announced that he was prepared to relaunch all-out US economic warfare against Iran unless the European powers joined Washington in imposing a rewritten nuclear accord on Tehran, including provisions that the Iranian government cannot and will not accept.

Thousands of peace activists protested Saturday in Gothenburg against NATO, against its growth to Russia's borders and the ongoing "Aurora 17" military exercises of the Western military alliance. These are the largest military exercises in Sweden in the past 23 years. However, many of the demonstrators believe that the aggression and escalation are not by Russia but from NATO itself.

One participant stated, "Russia has an interest in defending itself too, but it is NATO and the US, moving closer and closer to Russia, and they are literally asking for war, and then they tell us every day How Dangerous Russia is and I think it's a big, big lie."

Poland’s Deputy Minister of Culture has endorsed the creation of a special “Polocaust” museum to commemorate the non-Jews who died in Poland during World War II.

It is estimated that around three million ethnic Poles were among the six million people who were killed in Poland during the war. Minister Jaros?aw Sellin said in an interview on Poland’s Radio One that he regrets that Poland’s suffering isn’t more widely known around the world. He said it’s time “this terrible fate” was acknowledged.

So, let Cold War 2.0 dissolve into what it should always have been – an empty shell.

The Munich Security Conference is supposed to be an annual lofty gathering of global politicians, and military and intelligence experts. Theoretically, they discuss serious security matters under a cool professional eye in an informed setting.

Yet, in these times of doom and gloom, what the 54th conference yielded was another Russophobia show – a direct connection to the “Russiagate” soap opera in Washington.

Spain’s top court upholds ruling against the Mallorcan artist for slander and glorifying terrorism.

The Spanish Supreme Court has upheld a three-and-a-half-year prison sentence handed down to rapper José Miguel Arenas, known by his artistic name Voltonyc, for slander against the Crown, glorifying terrorism and making threats in a series of songs. The Mallorcan artist was sentenced to prison by the High Court after composing the music and publishing the songs online where they could be freely accessed.

Romania’s commitment to increase its defense budget to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) target of 2 percent of GDP has spurred the government to approve a $1 billion purchase of American-made M142 HIMARS (High Mobility Artillery Rocket System).

Webmaster's Commentary:

Against what other country is Romania planning to use these weapons?!?

Possibly in a US government/NATO jinned up war against Russia?!?

Because at the end of the day, folks, that is at least one of the wonderful, wacky little wars NATO and the US government have been concocting.

From last year, we have the following article by Paul Craig Roberts, talking about a very serious geopolitical "trajectory" moving forward in order to stop the ascent of the ruble and the yuan:

The ministers said yes to the creation of military Schengen to ease forces movements across the Old Continent. NATO is to do away with the cumbersome and lingering bureaucratic procedures hindering transportation of troops and hardware through territories of member states. One of the solutions is a standardized form used by European allies and partner states for granting permission for movements. Germany has offered to host the command center to implement the concept of free transit zone in view of its vast experience in providing logistical support.

The decision is taken amid burgeoning preparations to boost military infrastructure near Russia’s borders.

To augment the forces in East Europe, the Black Sea, the Baltics and the Scandinavian Peninsula the bloc needs new logistic hubs. Unobstructed large-scale transport movements become top priority for implementation of the war plans, such as concentrating combat-ready stocks for a full US brigade in Poland.

Webmaster's Commentary:

Translation: get ready for the great number of wars the US government and NATO are planning.

Poland has never gotten anything out of its “alliance” with America other than being used as the Pentagon’s doormat for expanding NATO eastward to Russia’s borders and provocatively deploying offensive weapons on its doorstep, but that’s about to change now that Warsaw has realized that it could leverage its military relationship with Washington to its advantage in standing up to “Israel’s” bullying.

JULIA HARTLEY-BREWER exploded in a furious rant over Brussels’ demand for the so-called Brexit divorce bill as negotiations rumble on, insisting the prospect of parting with a vast sums can "f*** off".

A new US strategy in Syria: to punish the Russians as much as possible short of an overt US attack on Russian forces.

Events in Syria have recently clearly taken a turn for the worse and there is an increasing amount of evidence that the Russian task force in Syria is being targeted by a systematic campaign of “harassing attacks”.

First, there was the (relatively successful) drone and mortar attack on the Russian Aerospace base in Khmeimin. Then there was the shooting down of a Russian SU-25 over the city of Maasran in the Idlib province. Now we hear of Russian casualties in the US raid on a Syrian column (along with widely exaggerated claims of “hundreds” of killed Russians).